My name is Emma, and I am the first Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust residential volunteer based at Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes National Nature Reserve (NNR). I have always had a deep-rooted love for nature and wildlife so, naturally, I wish to pursue a career in conservation. My motto is to leave the world a better place than I have found it. With the experiences I will, and already have had, while living and working here I hope to do just that. I’ve been in this position for two months and wanted to reflect on everything I’ve experienced. Having spent most of my time at Donna Nook NNR, my most notable memories are from there.

I have always loved visiting the seals during their pupping season over the years. Seeing the start, middle and end, and all that comes with it has been such a unique and eye-opening opportunity. I have been able to observe behaviour I haven’t seen before. The way the seals communicate not just vocally but physically has been incredible to watch, just as seeing the whole cycle of the pupping season has been. I’ve seen the seals come in, cows giving birth (after just missing them by sometimes seconds, over and over again), mating, feeding and weaning, and finally the cows heading back out to sea getting a well-deserved snack after three weeks of no food all the while sustaining their pups. I’ve seen the pups and adults that haven’t made it (and yes, they do die. They are wild animals) and helped clean up the beach for post-seal season beachgoers. I have learned so much about the fascinating creatures, I know three words and a fact about their gestation period that would blow your mind, mainly because it did mine:

Atlantic grey seals have a gestation period of around eight months, but if they give birth and mate at the same time of year shouldn’t it be a year? No! They can delay the implantation of the fertilised egg as it's held in stasis within the cow's body for 100 days! Allowing them to build up their fat stores again and have their bodies in the best condition to grow their new pup. This process is called Obligate Embryonic Diapause!

As much as I have loved learning, I have found that I love telling people about the seals just as much. The human curiosity deserves to be nurtured and it gives me a great sense of accomplishment that I might have taught at least one person one thing. It was in moments like those, teaching someone something they didn’t know before, that reinforced that this is the right path for me. If I could be someone who helps to keep our wildlife wild and alive, it’d make me one happy person. That’s also why I volunteer, hopefully, as my first steps into a career in conservation, but also what else would I be doing? Volunteering is such an easy way to give back to the world, but most importantly, for me, Lincolnshire. It has been amazing finding what lives in my back garden and over the next nine months I can’t wait to see what else I can learn.

I have also been living in the accommodation built in Saltfleetby in partnership with Dynamic Dunescapes and it has been wonderful, it was even brand new for me moving in. It has been so nice and cosy for me to relax in after some very cold, wet and windy days down on the harsh Donna Nook coastline, as well as with the recent frosty and minus temperature days. Though with bad weather comes spectacular sunrises and sunsets I can watch from my front door. My kitchen window gives me a brilliant view of the dunes, it has even allowed me to watch wildlife while I’m washing the dishes. Lapwings floating along the horizon, rabbits running in the dunes and even a stoat checking out burrows. The walks have also been great, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed exploring the dunes. Speaking of exploring, Rimac is within walking distance, so I’m looking forward to wandering around there on my days off. 

Overall, my first couple of months of being a residential volunteer has been more than I could have ever possibly have dreamed it to be. It has shown me what it really means to be in conservation, and I look forward to experiencing even more.